


Choose your words 'cause there's no antidote

by QuirkyNeon (iforgetlikeanelephant)



Category: Generation Kill, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Blowjobs, Doctor! Nate, M/M, Miscommunication, Nurse! Brad, Yoga instructor! Brad, gratuitous discussions of one direction, military vet! Bucky, pre serum steve rogers, tattoo artist! Ray, the marvel characters are mostly background characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 16:02:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iforgetlikeanelephant/pseuds/QuirkyNeon
Summary: Ray and Brad hook-up at Walt and Nate's wedding and it's the start of something."Oh God,” Ray mumbles into the pillow, his eyes shooting open as he tips his head just enough to see the person next to him and oh,oh, Ray went home with someone last night. Someone that apparently sets their alarm on aSaturday. “Who the fuck sets an alarm on a Saturday?” he asks, rolling onto his side and stretching, he gaze taking in the wall of muscle next to him as his back twinges slightly.





	Choose your words 'cause there's no antidote

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a short oh i wanna write about Brad being a yoga instructor with lots of smut fic and turned into nearly 18K words of actual plot so there's that

Ray presses his face against his pillow and wishes for the alarm that’s ringing to _stop_ , his head is throbbing and he really shouldn’t have had that last (five) drink(s) but it was a _celebration!_ The alarm stops and he thinks, for a moment, that he somehow willed it that way except, oh God, the mattress is moving. “Oh God,” Ray mumbles into the pillow, his eyes shooting open as he tips his head just enough to see the person next to him and oh, _oh_ , Ray went home with someone last night. Someone that apparently sets their alarm on a _Saturday_. “Who the fuck sets an alarm on a Saturday?” he asks, rolling onto his side and stretching, he gaze taking in the wall of muscle next to him as his back twinges slightly. 

 

“I teach a yoga class in an hour,” the wall of muscle answers as he sits up, his back to him, and Ray can’t stop the laugh that escapes him because _this_ guy? Teaching _yoga_? 

 

“You’re fucking _huge_ , how the hell can you do yoga?” Ray asks as he sits up, letting the sheet pool around his waist and grinning because yeah, he definitely got some last night. 

 

“You’re small, how can you put away so much alcohol?” Big Guy says as he stands up and Ray’s grin gets bigger because his ass is amazing and he’s got a front row seat to it, even if the tattoo on the small of his back is ugly as fuck.

 

“Practice, homes, lots of practice,” Ray says as he leans over the edge of the bed, spotting his briefs and jeans in a tangle on the floor. He shamelessly stands up from the bed, tugging his briefs on and managing to get one leg into his skinny jeans before he feels large hands settle on his hips, pressing into the barest hint of bruises that he spotted while pulling his briefs up. 

 

Ray lets himself be pulled against the man as he tries to remember what the _fuck_ his name is. “Brad,” Big Guy says, and Ray is confused for a minute because no, _Ray_ , but he continues, “My name is Brad.”

 

“I knew that,” Ray says, looking over his shoulder, “I totally knew that.”

 

“You didn’t,” Brad laughs, squeezing his hips slightly before he lets go, letting Ray finish pulling his jeans up.

 

Ray takes that L because he’s a champ. “So, can I tempt you into staying here and showing me some yoga moves?” he asks as he looks for his shirt.

 

“Yoga isn’t _nearly_ as sexy as porn would have you believe,” Brad says, shaking his head, “It’s a lot of barely in shape people sweating and complaining internally about their hands slipping when they’re in downward facing dog.” This makes Ray laugh, tipping his head back as he cackles, not missing the heated gaze that Brad’s throwing his way. He catches sight of his reflection in the mirror on the back of Brad’s door and his throat is ringed in love bites that trail down his chest and _oh_ , well, he definitely looks well fucked. 

 

He gives up the search when Brad holds something out to him and hey, it’s his shirt. “Thank you!” Ray grins at Brad as he takes his shirt from him and honestly, Brad is _way_ too hot to have willingly slept with him, but he’s not running away screaming so it must not have been awful. 

 

Not that Ray can remember much.

 

“Were you at least as drunk as I was?” Ray asks as he pulls his shirt over his head because it would be really embarrassing, and kind of skeezy on Brad’s part, if he was more drunk than the big ass yoga instructor was.

 

“More, probably,” Brad says lightly, grinning as he pulls on—oh good _Lord_ , are those _yoga pants_? “By the end of the night I was definitely doing Yäger bombs with one of the groom’s sisters so,” he shrugs as Ray bites his lip, watching the pull of the yoga pants around his trim waist and _Christ_.

 

“I vaguely remember Yäger bombs being a thing,” Ray says truthfully, “I was definitely more into the signature martini that was free flowing at the open bar though. Man, I should have known that Walt would have a fucking open bar.” He shakes his head as he laughs, tugging on the hem of his shirt and wiggling his toes in his socks because apparently he was down to fuck in his socks the night before and they stayed on through sleeping, _sexy._

 

Brad grins at him as he’s pulling his own shirt on and oh man, _oh man_. “Wait! You were Nate’s Best Man! Fuck, oh my _God_ , are you telling me that I pealed this—,” he gestures at Brad’s…well, Brad’s _everything_ , “—out of a suit and I don’t even _remember it_?” 

 

“I’m afraid so,” Brad says as he steps into Ray’s space, cupping a hand under his chin to tilt his head back. 

 

Ray pouts even as Brad ducks down and kisses him. His pout, of course, doesn’t last for long and he’s got his arms draping over Brad’s shoulders as he pushes onto his tiptoes, deepening the kiss, in a matter of moments. “Wait,” Ray says as Brad ends the kiss, “How do I know that you know _my_ name? You assumed I didn’t know yours—”

 

“And I was right.”

 

“—but I’m just supposed to assume that you remember mine? Is this a double standard? This _feels_ like a double standard,” Ray ignores Brad’s interruption because he’s trying to make a _point_ , though when pressing so close to Brad’s front it’s hard to remember _what_ the point was. 

 

Brad smirks at him and pulls away completely, leaving Ray feeling cold and hot all at once. He figures he’s caught Brad up and that the other man _doesn’t_ remember his name, which is both a blessing and a curse because now he knows his name is Brad but he’s not sure that Brad knows who _he_ is. He’s shoved his feet into his shoes and has pulled up the map on his phone to see where the hell he is, and when he sees it’s only a few blocks to his own house he decides the walk will do him good. Or well, it’ll do him good enough to not have to wait for an Uber to pull up in front of Brad’s complex as he fights the headache that’s slowly blooming behind his eyes. 

 

“Ray, is your name,” Brad says from behind him as he’s about to leave the other man’s apartment and _what_? Now _Ray’s_ the asshole that couldn’t remember the dude’s name that he picked up at his friend’s wedding. “Walt asked you to be his Best Man but you turned it down because you didn’t want to wear a bow tie,” and now that’s just _not fair._

 

“That’s just not fair,” Ray whines, turning from the door to look at Brad who’s leaning against the hallway with a gym bag at his feet, “How can you do _Yäger bombs_ and still remember all that shit? How do you even _know_ about the Best Man thing?”

 

Brad laughs, and it’s Ray’s turn to stare hungrily. “Nate was afraid to ask me because he thought I’d use some lame excuse not to do it, I asked why, and he told me about your anti-bowtie stance. I remembered it because I thought it was funny, and I spotted you at the reception because you were loudly complaining about the bow ties while you had one perched on your head like one of those baby headbands that they force on little girls,” Brad’s a goddamn _monster_ , how the hell he remembers any of that Ray doesn’t know. Hell, _Ray_ doesn’t remember yelling about bow ties at the reception but he wouldn’t put it past drunk him. Drunk him is louder than he is and three times as opinionated, especially about dumb shit.

 

“You knew all that and you still fucked me? What’s that say about _you_?” Ray teases, leaning back against Brad’s front door and raising an eyebrow. 

 

“I fucked you because you seemed fun, and I wasn’t disappointed,” Brad says this easily, and Ray can feel the heat in his cheeks as he grins back at the man. “I would ask for your number but you already gave it to me, pretty forcefully, last night,” he says and now this is just getting ridiculous, Ray really needs to stop drinking drinks that don’t taste like alcohol. 

 

“Oh God, what did I do?” 

 

“You stole my phone from me and put it in my phone yourself so that I wouldn’t have an excuse not to call you,” Brad says as he picks up his gym bag, and damn, there really is a yoga mat sticking out of it. Ray still doesn’t quite believe that this guy is a yoga instructor because he’s built like a goddamn _house_. 

 

“Well it could have been worse,” Ray shrugs, grinning at Brad, “I thought I might have held you down and tattooed it on you.”

 

“Why would that be your first thought? Have you _done_ that?” Brad asks as he reaches past Ray and grabs the door handle, his wrist pressing against the small of Ray’s back. 

 

“No, but I _am_ a tattoo artist so,” Ray shrugs, shifting slightly away from the door, which puts him chest to chest with Brad once again. “Not entirely out of the realm of possibility,” he says honestly, bringing a hand up to curl around the back of Brad’s neck. 

 

Brad grins at him and ducks down to kiss him. Ray melts into it, because how can he _not_ , and he frowns when the other man breaks the kiss. “I really do have to go to my class,” Brad says, and he sounds apologetic enough that Ray lets him open the door, stepping around Brad and onto the landing outside of his apartment. 

 

“Well, you have my number so just,” Ray holds his hand up to his ear, miming a phone, “Give me a call, or text, whatever.” He wants to die as soon as he does the hand motion, because _really?_ But he can’t stop himself from acting like an idiot. 

 

He rolls his eyes as he turns away from Brad and is halfway down the steps when Brad finally replies. “I will!” Brad says, and Ray turns to look at him when he reaches ground level, grinning up at him. To stop himself from saying anything else dumb he gives the other man a double thumbs up and then wants to die again because that’s the dorkiest thing he could do. Well, the second dorkiest thing, and he really needs to leave before he pulls out the finger guns on the poor guy.

 

“I look forward to it!” He says as he starts walking away, dropping his hands to his side and shoving them into his pockets as he keeps his eyes firmly on the ground, unable to stop smiling as he makes his way home.

 

————————————————

 

“So, he hasn’t called and I don’t know what to do with myself,” Ray says as he drops down onto Walt’s couch, his arm across his eyes.

 

“Okay buddy, one: how the _fuck_ did you get in here? And two: it’s only been like what, a week? Chill,” Walt is somewhere in the kitchen, and Ray’s pretty sure that Nate isn’t in the house at _all_ which is weird for newlyweds. 

 

Ray sighs, peaking out from behind his arm. “I have a _key_ , homes, you got married but you didn’t think to change the locks or like, buy a new place, Nate just moved all of his shit in here,” he rolls his eyes as he adds, “It’s been a week and a _half_ , do you not remember the day you got _married_?”

 

“Probably better than you do, dude,” Walt says as he walks into the living room, tossing a bottle of water on Ray’s stomach as he passes by the couch, “You showed up high to the ceremony and then got drunk as fuck at the reception.”

 

“I was only a _little_ high, and I still cried at your fucking vows, _dude_ , you can’t get mad,” Ray grins as he sits up, watching as Walt drops into the armchair at the end of the couch. “Speaking of, where is the husband? Off saving the world?” he raises an eyebrow at Walt as he cracks open the bottle of water, watching enviously as Walt takes a swig of his beer. Ray has a session later in the afternoon and can’t drink, but that doesn’t mean he can’t wish for it. 

 

Walt wiggles his eyebrows at Ray because he knows his schedule, and he knows that he can’t drink right now and he’s a _monster_. “He’s not saving the _world_ ,” Walt denies, “Just the people of the city, which I guess is a close kind of thing.” Ray rolls his eyes as he adds on, “And when the _fuck_ did I give you a key to my place?”

 

“Remember when you had fish?” Ray asks and Walt nods his head, “When you and Nate went to Scotland for that weird ass early honeymoon you guys took you had me house-sit well, I made myself a copy of your key.”

 

Walt snorts out a laugh, “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal dude, oh my _God,_ you freak.”

 

“Freak like meeee,” Ray says before he takes a swig of his water. He sighs, “It’s only illegal if you get _caught_ , and anyway, it’s not like I used it for nefarious purposes. Hand to God this is the first time I’ve used the key since I made it.”

 

“We only went to Scotland four months ago, asshole,” Walt points out and Ray makes a face because he could have _sworn_ it was longer ago than that.

 

“Then why the _fuck_ are the fish gone?” Ray asks, looking around, “Holy _shit_ , you’re a fish killer!”

 

“Nate did it!” Walt yelps, shaking his head, and Ray cackles because Walt cracking under pressure is his favorite thing. “He was cleaning the tank and he cleaned it with bleach and apparently didn’t rinse it out well enough because the next morning the fish were belly up,” he explains, which just makes Ray laugh harder because who the _fuck_ cleans a fish tank with _bleach_. 

 

“Thank God you’re not a spy, homes, you’d be shitty at it,” Ray laughs and Walt sticks his tongue out at him. “Anyway, how do Brad and Nate even _know_ each other, I know Brad was his best man but I don’t know anything _else_ , I need details,” he says, shifting on the couch until he’s leaning on the arm closest to Walt’s armchair, looking at him. 

 

“They met at the hospital,” Walt answers easily.

 

“I thought Brad was a yoga instructor? What did he do, pull a muscle and need good ol’ Doctor Fick to take a peek?” Ray asks, wiggling his eyebrows and being purposefully obnoxious. 

 

Walt rolls his eyes and Ray celebrates mentally because it’s working. “He teaches yoga on the side, the job that makes him money is being a nurse,” he answers, taking a swig of his beer and it takes a moment for Ray to process that but when he does…

 

“Wait, _wait_ , big fucking brick wall Brad is a _nurse_? Are you _serious_?” he realizes that he probably sounds shrill but honestly, _honestly_ , how can he not? “You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?”

 

“Hand to God,” Walt parrots back, “Brad Colbert is a nurse, in the _pediatrics ward_.”

 

The noise that Ray makes is loud enough that it makes his ears ring, for a moment, and he feels bad for Walt but he can’t feel too bad because, “Brad is a _baby nurse_? A nurse! That works with babies? There’s no way this is true, _no way_ , have you _seen_ the guy? He _can’t_ be a nurse!”

 

“That’s sexist of you,” Walt points out, and from the look on his face Ray can tell that he’s enjoying this, “Just because he’s a _man_.”

 

“That’s not why! He can’t be a baby nurse because he could _squish a baby_ , are you kidding me? He could squish _me_!” Ray isn’t being sexist okay, he knows there are male nurses and more power to them, he couldn’t do the job, but he is one hundred percent being size-ist, if that’s a thing. Brad is a _giant_ , he could eat babies for _breakfast,_ he just _can’t_ be a baby nurse.

 

The thought is so adorable Ray might _explode_.

 

“He wouldn’t squish a baby,” Walt denies, “And the mothers _love_ him.”

 

Ray laughs, “Of _course_ the mothers love him, he’s a God among men and they want to hop on that _dick_.” He covers his face with one hand as he adds, “ _I_ want to hop on that dick.”

 

Walt groans, “Good Lord, man, why didn’t you think to get his number?”

 

“He said he was going to call me! I didn’t think I needed to! Oh God, what if I sucked in bed? What if I was a lame fuck and that’s why he’s not calling me, because I was awful?” Ray is aware that he sounds ridiculous but he can’t help it, he really thought he and Brad clicked but _apparently_ not. 

 

Walt reaches out and touches his shoulder. “I’m sure you weren’t a lame fuck,” he says, and Ray appreciates that he at least tries to sound serious as he uncovers his face to look at him, pouting, “He’s probably just been busy.”

 

“I’m a monster,” Ray says, taking a sip of his water and feeling ridiculous, “He’s saving baby lives and I’m pining over dick that probably doesn’t want me.”

 

“He probably wants you,” Walt says, and Ray is surprised that he doesn’t sound like he’s lying, “But he’s also a workaholic, and got out of a pretty nasty break-up with a woman like maybe six months ago? Which he handled by being a bit of a, well, a _slut_ , so…he’s probably just not looking to date so he isn’t sure how to tell you that without sounding like an asshole.”

 

Ray’s about to say something else, he’s not sure _what_ but he was definitely about to say _something_ , when his phone alarm goes off, scaring the shit out of him. “Oh, fuck, I have a consultation session in fifteen minutes, I have to go, but we’re going to pick this back up when I have time and also when I can have a _beer_ ,” he stands from the couch and swipes Walt’s beer for just one sip, groaning at the taste as he hands it back, taking his bottle of water with him as he heads toward the door.

 

“Drive safe and _please_ don’t use the key without warning again!” Walt yells at his back as he exits the house and Ray tosses a thumbs-up over his shoulder as he shuts the door behind him. 

 

He makes it to the shop with three minutes to spare, sweeping into the shop and grinning at Steve, the nerdy kid that they hired to look after the paperwork side of things. Ray’s also thinking of letting Steve be his apprentice, after a few months of working behind the desk, because the kid is crazy talented with a pencil and Ray can only _imagine_ how good he’d be with a needle. Not that he’s told him yet, he’s keeping it in his back pocket to use as bait to keep him in the shop once the school year picks back up. “Your consultation isn’t here yet,” Steve greets him, pushing his glasses up his nose, “But Poke wanted me to tell you that you’re an asshole that needs to man up and find the dude, whatever _that_ means.”

 

“Oh Steve, Steven, skinny love of my life, you can tell Poke to go fuck himself,” Ray says, shooting double finger guns at Steve as he heads toward his walled off room, “And when my consult gets here go ahead and send them back!”

 

“I’m not telling Poke that shit, he could _eat_ me,” Steve yells over the music in the shop, which makes Ray cackle as he drops onto his stool, spinning himself slightly with his feet.

 

He’s tidying up his area, wiping down the counters and the chair, when he hears the bell over the door ring slightly and a murmur of voices under the sound of the music playing. Ray pokes his head out of his room and sees Steve blushing at the desk and looking up at a man with one arm and his hair pulled back in a messy bun. Steve sees him, he must, because he pushes away from the desk and stands, pointing toward Ray as he says, “Ray’s ready to see you, James, just there.” 

 

The guy, James, looks toward Ray and he can see why Steve’s blushing, the guy is almost criminally good looking. “Thanks, Steve,” he says as he starts walking from Steve’s desk, grinning  at him and Ray has to blink himself because yo, the dude’s smile is insane and he’s only caught the last of it as James starts walking toward him. 

 

“James, hi, I’m Ray,” Ray greets, holding out his hand and grinning when the other man shakes it, his hand shake surprisingly gentle for how big he is. “Steve, tell Poke the thing when he gets back from wherever he is,” Ray says as he ushers James into his room.

 

“I’m not telling Poke _anything_!” Steve yells back, apparently getting his nerve back with James out of sight, “I am not an _owl_.”

 

James snickers as he sits on the chair and Ray feels his grin grow because yes, the dude caught the Harry Potter reference. “James and I appreciate the Harry Potter reference, Hermione!” Ray yells back, and it makes the guy in his chair laugh more, which is amazing because if he listened hard enough he could probably _hear_ Steve blushing from here. 

 

“I hate you!” Steve replies, tacking on a, “Thanks though, for getting it.”

 

“So, James,” Ray starts, looking at James as he drops back onto his stool, “What are you looking for here, big piece? Color? I have books if you want to see some examples of my work, and if you want something that I’m not comfortable with doing I’ll shuttle you over to Poke if I need to.”

 

“Er…can you actually call me Bucky? I don’t go by James really, it’s just the name on my ID at this point,” Ray nods at the request because yeah, that’s easy enough, and the dude _looks_ like a Bucky anyway. “Great,” Bucky says, and he sounds relieved, “So, what I want is…well, I want something to cover a scar I have and I’ve heard that you guys are really good at that in this shop.”

 

“It’s kind of my speciality,” Ray says easily, grinning, “It’s good to hear that we’ve got a reputation for it though. Where’s the scar? And how old is it?”

 

“Oh, it’s…” Bucky trails off, looking like he’s thinking before he shakes his head and Ray’s surprised when he’s tugging his shirt over his head but not _too_ surprised, he figured it was a scar that was covered. “It’s like two years old at this point,” he says, using his right hand to point at the obvious skin grafts on his left bicep. Well, what’s _left_ of his left bicep, as he speaks. 

 

Ray stands up and says, “Do you mind if I…” He trails off, gesturing to the arm, and Bucky shakes his head, turning his torso slightly so that his left side is facing Ray. “Okay, so,” he pauses, touching his fingers to the raised scars and closing his eyes, trying to get a feel for what he’s working with here. “They’re pretty raised, and that’s normally not the best to work with but for you,” he opens his eyes, grinning at Bucky, “For making Steve blush like that? I can definitely figure something out. Do you have any ideas for the art, or are you a clean slate?”

 

Bucky looks a little taken aback by what he’s said, and honestly Ray’s not sure if it’s about the scar thing or the Steve thing. “I uh, I want flowers I think. Or well,” He glances away, looking at his feet as he says, “Something soft, to counter the fact that my arm got blown the fuck off in war.” Ray makes a noise in the back of his throat as he keeps his hands on Bucky’s bicep because it makes sense that he would have heard about their work with scars if he’s a vet, they’re a shitty kept secret amongst the vets at the VA center in town because Poke is a vet and he likes to brag. “Other than that I’m not picky,” Bucky says finally, and Ray nods his head, finally pulling his hands away from Bucky’s bicep as he reaches for his pad of paper. 

 

“Cool,” Ray says, looking around for his pencil. He sees it sitting up by his radio and he pops over there before he plants himself on his stool, propping his pad of paper on his knee, beginning to sketch. “I’m gonna try something, but talk to me about things, whatever you want, I just want to get a feel for _you_ ,” he looks up at Bucky as he drags his pencil across the paper, eyes darting between his face and his bicep as the man blinks at him before he starts talking.

 

“—and then, when I was in the hospital recovering, the fucking asshole broke up with me,” Bucky is waving his arm around now, and Ray makes a noise of sympathy as he finishes up the bare bones sketch that he’s drawn up. 

 

“Men suck,” Ray says honestly, thinking about Brad, big, nurse Brad. Bucky snorts out a laugh that trails off when Ray turns his notepad toward him, showing him the rough sketch of a design. “What do you think?” Ray asks, rolling closer to Bucky so that the other man can grab the notepad and look more intensely at the picture. “I don’t have the flowers in mind yet because I’m gonna need to look into the meanings behind different flowers, but I’m thinking that it might be like,” he pauses, standing up and gesturing to Bucky’s arm, waiting for a nod from the other man before he touches him, “A band, around the bottom here, and have it trail up to your shoulder, maybe to your collarbone?”

 

Bucky hasn’t said anything for a few moments and Ray is starting to feel uncomfortable because man, does it suck? What if it _sucks_? He hears Bucky sniffle and then the other man finally looks up and, oh, okay, he’s crying, that explains the silence. “That sounds good,” Bucky says, and Ray is overwhelmed because he can _hear_ the relief in the other man’s voice. “I have ideas for flowers though, if that’s okay?”

 

“Homes, _fuck_ yeah, they’re your flowers, what were you thinking?” Ray asks, grinning at Bucky and deciding that the other man probably doesn’t want him to point out the tears. He does pull him into a one armed hug though, because he can’t help it, and he’s happy when Bucky hugs him back, the notepad squashed slightly between them. “Sorry, sorry, that was unprofessional as fuck,” Ray laughs as he breaks the hug, holding his hand out for the note pad, “Now gimme those flower names.”

 

Bucky laughs as he hands over the pad of paper, using his now free hand to wipe at his face. “Sorry, I’m a little emotional,” Ray smiles at him as he settles back onto his stool because that’s definitely something that happens in his room all the time. “I’m thinking uh, nasturtium,” Ray looks up from the pad of paper because he was going to write it down but he can’t spell that one, Bucky laughs and then spells it for him, spelling out the next flower as well, “Zinnias, and then lotus flowers.”

 

“I’m assuming these have meaning?” Ray asks as he writes them down, looking up so that he can watch Bucky as he nods. 

 

“Yeah man, nasturtium means patriotism, zinnias are for thoughts of absent friends, and the lotus is for—”

 

“Rebirth,” Ray interrupts, and then he flinches, “Sorry, your thing and I totally interrupted.”

 

Bucky laughs, tipping his head back as he does, “It’s okay, honestly, I’m just happy there was at least one flower in that bunch that you already know.”

 

“That’s the only one, you’d be surprised how many vets choose that flower,” Ray says honestly, nodding toward the look-book of previous tattoos he has sitting on the counter, “If you want you can look at some while I go Google what the hell those other flowers look like. Well, while I bully _Steve_ into Googling them for me.” He grins as he stands up wiggling his note pad at Bucky. 

 

“Yeah, I’ll flip through it a little, but mostly because I want to see more of your work now that I’ve seen what you consider a _rough_ sketch,” Bucky says as he stands up from the chair, walking over to the counter as Ray leaves the room, notepad in hand. 

 

“Steve!” He says as he hits the hallway, “I need the Google!”

 

“You’re only like seven years older than me, you know what the fuck _Google_ is and how to use it,” Steve says from his desk, one earbud in his ear and a pencil to paper as he glances up.

 

“Damn right I am, respect your elders,” Ray says as he steps around Steve, bumping the back of his desk chair with his hip as he wiggles his way to the computer at Steve’s desk, the only computer in the whole shop that’s hooked up to the printer. 

 

He sets his note pad on the desk and feels Steve looking at it. “Oh, looks good,” Steve says to him and he grins over his shoulder as he pulls up Chrome, typing in the first flower and hitting enter. “Flowers?” He asks and Ray glances at the screen as he nods.

 

“Yup,” Ray says, popping the last syllable, “Scar job, apparently word of my prowess is getting around at the VA.”

 

“Nice,” Steve says as he pulls the note pad toward himself. Ray lets him because he wants to see what Steve might add, if he adds anything. “Where’s the scar?” 

 

Ray rolls his eyes. “His arm, you might have noticed he only has one,” he says with a snort of laughter, “I’m thinking about doing a climbing ivy vine thing up to his shoulder and collarbone area, what do you think?”

 

Steve hums in thought behind him as he hits print, hearing the printer click over as it warms up.  “I think,” he starts, apparently ignoring Ray’s sarcastic comment about Bucky’s arm, “That ivy could be good but maybe look at some baby’s breath, instead. It would be a softer look and from the look at this list of flowers, soft is what he’s looking for.”

 

“Wait, you know what the fuck these flowers are without looking at them?” Ray asks as the first picture prints, “How the _fuck_?”

 

“My mom liked flowers, she worked in a flower shop when I was little and I pretty much grew up around them so,” Steve shrugs as Ray looks over at him, “I know flowers.”

 

“Why didn’t I know this?” Ray asks, feeling like he’s been smacked over the head.

 

“You never asked,” Steve says, making a face as he looks back down at the sketch. 

 

Ray’s about to say something else when the door opens and Poke walks into the shop, a cup holder full of drinks in his hand. “My best friend!” Ray says, reaching his hand out and grinning at Poke when he hands him a cup. Ray sniffs it and his grin grows because _yes_ , chocolate.

 

“Thanks, Poke,” Steve says as Poke hands him his drink. Ray can see that it’s got a string trailing from under the lid so it’s obviously tea instead of coffee, which would normally earn him a dressing down from Ray but he lets it slide this time because he’s apparently an asshole that doesn’t bother to learn things about people he considers his friends. 

 

That’s exciting.

 

He prints out a few pictures of each of the flowers and then grabs the stack off of the printer as he says to Poke, who’s still standing at the counter, his own drink in hand, “Oh! Before I forget, go fuck yourself.”

 

Poke snickers and Steve rolls his eyes, holding his hands up in front of him as he hands over Ray’s notepad, “I’m not in this one.”

 

“Just go find yoga dude and stop being a little bitch,” Poke says, pointing at Ray as he shoves his note pad under his arm, “I don’t see what the goddamn problem is.”

 

“The problem is that I harassed Walt earlier today and yoga dude is actually a goddamn _pediatrics nurse_ , like I don’t know how one dude can be so fucking perfect but I’m literally about to pull my hair out,” Ray whines, he knows he does, before he takes a sip of his coffee. Poke lets out a whistle and Steve just starts laughing, doubling over until his head is resting on the desk as he howls. “Thanks for the sympathy guys, really appreciate it,” he says as he turns on his heel, walking down the hall toward his room as their laughter echoes in the shop. 

 

He can’t stand his friends.

 

———————————

 

“Guys, _guys_ ,” Ray says to Walt and Poke, a few shots into their Saturday night out, “I fuckin love you guys.”

 

“You’re fuckin _drunk_ is what you are,” Walt laughs as Nate makes his way to their table with drinks in his hands, joining them on his rare night off.

 

Ray waves Walt off, “I’m not _drunk_ , I’m just in a good fuckin mood and wanted to tell my friends that I love them. Is that a _crime_? I’ve only had like four shots.”

 

“We love you too,” Nate says as he hands Walt his drink, dropping down onto the chair next to his husband. “You might not love _me_ though, because I invited Brad out tonight,” he says this just as Ray is taking a sip of water, because he really _isn’t_ trying to get drunk tonight, and he chokes just a little. 

 

“Oh no,” Ray says, because it’s now been nearly a month since the night of hooking up that he doesn’t even _remember_ but he’s definitely thought about the morning after at least once a day since it happened. 

 

“Thank _God_ ,” Poke says, letting out a cheer before he downs his beer, “Maybe now I’ll finally get to _not_ hear you talk about him.”

 

“Please go die,” Ray says, pointing at Poke, “I genuinely want you to die and can’t stand you. I take back my love and you know what? I’m giving it to Walt, congratulations Walt, you’re now twice as loved by me, how does it feel?”

 

“It feels itchy, and also like you should have done this months ago because then maybe you would have agreed to be my best man,” Walt says after he takes a swig of his beer, pointing the bottle toward Ray slightly as he speaks. 

 

Ray shakes his head, laughing, “Not in my lifetime, man, you wanted me to wear a fucking bow tie.”

 

“Oh, bow tie talk again,” a deep voice says from behind Ray, just audible over the loud music, “Must be my cue to join you guys.” Ray looks over his shoulder and of fucking course it’s Brad, and of course he looks fucking _delicious_. He’s in a pair of skinny jeans and a green button up shirt that hugs literally all of his muscles and Ray is so, so into this guy. 

 

“Hi,” Ray says, grinning up at him, “Walt started it.”

 

Brad already has a beer in his hand and oh, the only empty seat is right next to Ray so. That’s something. Ray gestures to the seat and Brad falls into it easily, his thigh pressing tight against Ray’s as Poke introduces himself. “Nice to meet you again man, definitely less drunk this time,” Poke laughs and Ray snorts into his drink because he did hear all about Poke being three sheets to the wind and serenading his wife, but he’s had other drunk things on his mind the past month. It’s in his back pocket though, to be pulled out at any time. 

 

Brad laughs and Ray tightens his hand on his glass of water because holy _shit_ he wants to suck this dude’s dick. “I’m trying to keep it that way,” he says and Ray doesn’t miss the look that Brad shoots him when he says this. It’s enough to make his stomach flip and his cheeks flush slightly. 

 

The table orders another round of drinks and then Ray says, “I need to _dance_ , Poke, come dance with me.”

 

“Man, I’ve never danced with you before and I’m not about to start now,” Poke says this behind his beer, practically yelling to be heard over the music. 

 

Ray rolls his eyes and stands up after downing his own beer. “Well, I’m going because the music here isn’t that bad tonight and I want to put on my boogie shoes, so if you need me I’ll be over there,” he points to the small dance floor that’s already full of people and he waves over his shoulder as he walks away from the table. 

 

He’s on the dance floor for a good twenty minutes, having wiggled his way into the center of the mess of bodies, before he feels a hand on his waist. At first he thinks it’s just someone trying to squeeze past him but when the hand is followed by a body pressing against his back he glances over his shoulder. “Hey,” Brad says, grinning down at him, “Wanna dance?”

 

Ray grins because hell yeah, and he opens his mouth to speak just as the song changes over and, “Oh my God, yes, my song.”

 

“I have no idea who this is,” Brad admits and Ray gasps as he turns around to face him, one hand coming up to rest on Brad's shoulder. 

 

“The best member of One Direction’s first solo song,” Ray yells over the song and he fully expects Brad to make fun of him because he’s a grown ass man that just admitted to even knowing who One Direction is let alone having a _favorite_. 

 

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t Sign of the Times,” Brad says and Ray blinks because _what_ and then he feels offended deep in his bones because this guy just implied that Harry is the best member of One Direction and fuck _that_. 

 

“Niall Horan is the best member of One Direction and I will fight you about it,” Ray says, narrowing his eyes at the other man, “I can’t believe I fucked you when you think Harry Styles is the best member of One Direction.”

 

“ _I_ fucked _you_ , thank you very much,” Brad laughs, ducking his head to put his mouth next to Ray’s ear, “And I’d like to do it again if you’re down for it.’

 

Ray blinks because he was _hoping_ for it but he was also _not_ expecting it. “You never called me,” he says instead of an answer and he’s surprised when Brad pulls him in by his waist, his hands settling on the small of his back. 

 

“I wasn’t sure you were serious about wanting to see me again, and then I got so busy that I _couldn’t_ call you, but by the time that died down I didn’t think you’d want to see me anyway,” his excuse sounds flimsy but honestly, Ray doesn’t think that he’s _lying_ , at least not maliciously. That doesn’t stop him from making a face and rolling his eyes, which Brad must see because he laughs slightly and presses a soft kiss to his cheek, which makes Ray’s face heat up. 

 

“I definitely wanted to see you again,” Ray says as he brings his other hand up, curling both of them behinds Brad’s neck, “But I thought _you_ didn’t want to see _me_ , and I probably annoyed Walt with how much I whined about not having gotten your number myself.” He feels ridiculous, on his toes practically yelling this to be heard over the goddamn Niall Horan song that’s still playing but he wants to lay all his cards out on the table now, might as well let the other man know that he’s down for anything. 

 

Brad grins at him and the song changes to something slower, with a dirty beat that absolutely makes Ray want to dance. He twists his hips in Brad’s grip slightly, watching Brad’s eyes grow dark as he does. “Definitely wanted to see you again,” he says lowly, so low that Ray practically has to read his lips to make out what he says. 

 

He licks his lips and presses closer, dragging his lips against Brad’s cheek as he says, “Dance with me, and then I’ll take you home.” He turns around in Brad’s grip and wiggles back against him, closing his eyes as he feels the beat in his bones. They stay like that for a few songs, Ray dancing back against Brad, who’s hard against the small of his back, and also trying to keep himself from dropping to his knees right here to suck him off. 

 

Ray doesn’t even look behind him when he decides that yeah, he’s good on the dancing but he definitely wants to get his horizontal hustle on. He grabs Brad’s hand and starts dragging him from the dance floor, hearing the taller man laugh behind him as Ray has to push people out of their way. They’re not even halfway through the crowd when Brad tugs him backward by his hand and Ray stumbles, finally looking over his shoulder just to glare at the other man. “Can I lead?” Brad asks and Ray realizes that it’s probably a good idea, he’s a fucking _giant_. 

 

“Fuck yeah, homes, you’ll definitely be better at this than I am,” Ray laughs, falling back and holding tight to Brad’s hand as he pushes them through the crowd in at least half the time it would take Ray to have rudely push through. He’s pretty sure he even hears Brad _apologizing_ as they snake through which makes him want to _die_ because he’s polite _and_ good looking and it’s just not _fair_. 

 

They pass by the table they’d been sitting at on the way out and Ray waves and winks at Poke, the only one still sitting at the table. Poke shoots him a thumbs up and Ray laughs, widening his stride enough that he’s walking next to Brad instead of behind, still holding his hand. Brad looks over at him and he can’t stop his grin. “Your place or mine?” Brad asks, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Uh, well, wherever we go you’re gonna need to be the one that drives because I definitely got a ride here with Poke,” Ray laughs, swinging their joined hands between them. “Mine?” he says after a moment and he realizes that it sounds more like a question than anything else. 

 

Brad snorts out a laugh. “Well at least you’re sober and can tell me where to go,” he says as they exit the bar and Ray had forgotten that it was going to be cold when he left the bar because he absolutely didn’t bring a jacket and he’s only wearing a thin t-shirt and skinny jeans. 

 

“Christ, I forgot it’s November,” Ray says, shaking his head at himself as the slice of cold air hits him. Brad laughs at him and lets go of his hand, which is disappointing until he wraps his arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his side. He throws heat off like a space heater and by the time Brad’s stopping them by a car Ray is warm enough that he’s stopped shivering. He’s also rock hard, which has nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the fact that he can feel Brad’s fingers tracing loose patterns on his shoulder and Ray can’t stop thinking about where _else_ those fingers might feel good. 

 

“Can you actually take care of yourself?” Brad asks and Ray can tell he’s joking but it doesn’t stop him from making an offended noise and sticking his tongue out at the other man. 

 

“I can,” Ray says, leaning against the passenger side of the car after he separates from Brad, “But where’s the fun in _that_ when there’s a big strong man like you that can take care of me.” He flutters his eyelashes at him and Brad lets out a loud laugh even as he pushes into his space, placing his hands on either side of Ray’s shoulders on the roof of his car as he leans down.

 

Ray can’t stop the noise he makes when Brad finally kisses him because it’s _hot_. He tastes faintly of whiskey and beer and Ray pushes onto his toes as he wraps his arms around Brad’s shoulders and holy _shit,_ when their tongues brush together Ray’s knees buckle. He laughs in embarrassment as Brad breaks the kiss because wow, he didn’t realize he was in a goddamn rom-com. He shifts his hips against Brad’s and has to bite his lip to stop the noise he wants to make when he feels Brad’s cock through his jeans press against him. “Get in the car and please tell me you know the shortest way back to your place,” Brad says and Ray feels his heartbeat in his throat at how low his voice is. 

 

Ray nods and Brad backs away from him, he immediately misses his warmth and right, in the car. Brad opens the door for him and Ray melts into the passenger seat because his knees have decided that now is a good time to give out, and also because he’s never had a guy open the car door for him. Which is pretty sad since he’s been alive for twenty-six years, and openly into dudes for at least half of that. After he buckles his seatbelt he shoves his hands under his thighs to avoid reaching out and grabbing Brad’s hand when he’s started the car and is backing out of the parking spot. “The quickest way to get to my house is to take the freeway, go south for two exits and then get off,” Ray says, pointing down the street toward where the freeway entrance is situated.

 

“Great,” Brad says, grinning over at Ray as he drives toward the freeway.

 

“So,” Ray starts, shifting on the seat so that he’s partially sitting sideways to look at Brad’s profile as the headlights on the passing cars flash through the window, “I hear you’re a nurse, that’s even better than the yoga thing.”

 

Brad groans and presses his head back against the headrest as he merges onto the freeway. “How do you even _know_ that?” he asks as Ray grins broadly. 

 

“Like I said, man, I probably annoyed Walt. Wore him down and he cracked under pressure like a cheap pearl,” Ray laughs, moving his gaze down to Brad’s hands on the steering wheel. He buries a sigh and thinks about how those hands felt on his hips when they were dancing. 

 

Brad looks over at him for a split second and Ray keeps his smile in place. “I am a nurse,” he says before he turns back to the road, “Which is why I’ve been so busy the past few weeks, a lot of the staff is going on vacation for the holiday so I’ve been swimming in babies.” Ray laughs, and he doesn’t miss the way Brad smiles as he adds on, “I don’t mean it like that it’s just, everyone wants a Christmas baby but no one can really do the pregnancy math involved in timing it just right.”

 

“I’m sure you’ve been swimming in moms as well,” Ray teases, reaching out to drag his fingers down Brad’s bicep, “If _I_ was a new mom that just spent hours in labor and then saw you I might actually think I’d died and gone to Heaven.”

 

Brad snorts and exits the freeway where Ray points out, taking a left and then a right at the next light as Ray gives him directions. “New moms absolutely don’t give a shit about me, at least on the day of the birth, because they all only have eyes for their baby,” he says and Ray can’t believe that for a second because Brad is just amazingly good looking. “The dads on the other hand are usually obnoxiously macho when I come into the room,” he says, laughing. 

 

“Well yeah, duh, they’re one hundred percent sure that if their baby’s mom wasn’t currently nursing a ripped vagina they’d absolutely be on that dick,” Ray says and he’s aware that it sound a little crass but really, Brad is a fucking _God_. Brad cackles as Ray directs him into his small neighborhood, the street lights flickering like they always do. 

 

“Look at you, like a real adult in a _house_ ,” Brad teases once he’s done laughing, “I suddenly feel very under qualified to be around you.”

 

It’s Ray’s turn to laugh. “You’re the one with the real adult job, I just draw pretty pictures on people with a needle, homes, you’re saving babies and shit on the _reg_ ,” he’s still grinning at Brad as he points his house out, “You can park in the driveway.” 

 

“A real garage? I’m simmering in jealousy right now, I have to keep my bike in a covered parking spot and let me tell you, nothing terrifies me more than the idea that someone might try to steal it,” Brad says as he pulls into Ray’s driveway and wait, _what_?

 

“You have a motorcycle _and_ a car? I thought I was good with my house, damn, look at you adulting,” Ray says and Brad laughs, shaking his head. 

 

“My bike is currently dead, she needs a new...well, a new _everything_ , so I’m borrowing my mom’s car,” Brad grimaces as Ray coos, unbuckling his seatbelt. “I just realized how WASP-y that sounded, I swear it wasn’t that WASP-y in my head,” he laughs, turning the car off and looking at Ray. 

 

Ray is still grinning because every time he thinks that Brad is somehow going to show himself to be the asshole that he _looks_ like he should be he’s proved wrong. “It’s okay, it’s actually awesome that your parents are around enough that you can actually borrow their car. My mom is all the way in Missouri, pretty sure even if I _needed_ to borrow her car I couldn’t,” Ray says, watching Brad undo his own seatbelt as he bites his lip. He shifts forward slightly, “As great as it is to get to know you, and it is, maybe we save the parent conversation until _after_ I’ve sucked your dick.”

 

Brad laughs as he turns to face Ray, pulling him into a kiss that Ray can feel in his fucking toes and that is definitely never going to get old. He hopes, at least, that it won’t. “Sounds like a plan,” Brad says against his lips and Ray grins, biting the other man’s bottom lip gently.

 

“C’mon, I’ll show you my house,” Ray says even as he reaches up, curling his hand behind Brad’s neck and keeping him close. 

 

“Really only care about the bedroom,” Brad teases and Ray laughs, backing up until his back is pressing against the car door, “I’ll take a tour in the morning, if you don’t kick me out before then.”

 

Ray shakes his head because this guy. “I’m not going to kick you out before the morning,” he denies, feeling his cheeks warm slightly at the look that Brad give him in response. 

 

“Well good, I’d be hurt if you did,” Brad says with a laugh and Ray wonders if he really would, or if he’s just joking because he honestly can’t believe that _anyone_ would care if he asked them to leave. He’s not exactly a _catch_ , he’s a tattoo artist that smokes too much weed and drinks like a fish when he doesn’t have work, he’s not exactly boyfriend goals. 

 

Ray shakes his head at himself as he lets himself out of Brad’s car because he’s sure that if he let Brad get out first he’d open the door for him and he’s not prepared for gentlemanly actions. He definitely hears Brad let out a ‘hey’ that sounds offended before the other man gets out of the car as well. “I was going to get the door for you,” Brad says, pointing at Ray over the roof of the car.

 

“I know, that’s why I got out first,” Ray laughs, “If you opened the door for me again I would have been obligated to suck your dick right here and now, and I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate the show.”

 

Brad laughs as well and Ray rounds the car after closing his door, grabbing Brad’s hand and dragging him up to the front door. He’s fighting to get his key in the lock, not because he’s drunk but because he’s so excited about _Brad_ that his hands are shaking. He’s almost got the key in the handle when Brad pushes up against his back, his hand letting go of Ray’s to grab his hip and _oh_ , that’s a cock. “I don’t think I really care if your neighbors wouldn’t appreciate the show,” Brad says lowly, his mouth dropping to Ray’s neck and he can’t stop the needy sound he makes when his teeth drag against the tendon there. 

 

“Fuck, just, two seconds,” Ray says as he finally unlocks the handle, shoving the key in the hole for the deadbolt and mentally celebrating when it slides in without an issue. “Thank you, Jesus,” Ray says as he unlocks the door, swinging it open and dragging Brad into his house. 

 

“Pretty sure Jesus doesn’t have anything to do with the door unlocking, but I’m Jewish so what do I know,” Brad jokes as Ray pushes him back against the front door, locking the handle and the deadbolt before he leans in, pressing his mouth to Brad’s throat and sucking a mark at the base of his throat. 

 

“He was a carpenter, wasn’t he, they totally do doors,” Ray says after he’s satisfied with the mark on Brad’s throat, grinning up at him. He presses his hands to Brad’s shoulders and keeps him against the door as he pulls back, getting a good look at the man he’s got pinned to his door. He lets his gaze drop to Brad’s groin and feels like the air has been squeezed from his lungs when he sees that Brad’s hard in his jeans. It was one thing to _feel_ but another entirely to actually be able to see and it’s well, it’s a little overwhelming. 

 

Brad is grinning at him and Ray can’t help it, he drops to his knees right in the entryway and realizes, in the back of his mind, that the tile is going to murder his knees but he really doesn’t give a shit. He can hear Brad suck in a breath as he undoes his jeans and pulls them down his thighs and uh, okay that’s a cock. 

 

Again. 

 

“You uh, went commando,” Ray states as he looks up, his fingers looping around the base of Brad’s cock. 

 

“I was hopeful,” Brad says and Ray is surprised when the other man seems to blush and oh, _oh_. 

 

“You uh, you knew that I was going to be there and you...oh God, was this a date that I didn’t realize was a date? Was I just on a surprise date?” Ray asks, mostly teasing as he presses a wet kiss to the head of Brad’s cock. 

 

Brad’s laugh sounds choked off and Ray wonders if maybe this is a conversation that should be held when he’s _not_ nose to tip with Brad’s cock but it’s too late at this point. “Not a date, you’d know if it was a date, I was just hopeful that this is how the evening would end,” Brad sounds surprised as he curls his fingers in Ray’s hair and Ray is bowled over because how can _Brad_ be surprised that Ray would want this. 

 

“Dude, yes,” Ray says, grinning, “I’m easy as _fuck_.”

 

Brad laughs at him because _of course_ he does. “Glad to hear it,” he says easily, grinning at Ray who can’t help but wrap his lips around the tip of Brad’s cock and sucks _hard_. Ray is smiling around the cock in his mouth because he feels Brad’s knees buckle and his stomach clenches as he uses his free hand to press against his own cock gently. He’s surprised when Brad’s hand tightens in hi hair and he’s dragged away from his cock, guided by his hand. 

 

“Oh, okay,” Ray says, grinning as he lets himself be tugged up onto his feet, his head tilted back by Brad’s hand, “No good?”

 

“Great,” Brad denies, shaking his head, “But I would really just like to fuck you.”

 

“Lucky for you I really fuckin’ want it,” Ray says this as he’s reaching out to undo the buttons on Brad’s shirt. The taller man lets him but as soon as he’s done he grabs Ray’s wrists tightly. “Bedroom,” Ray says, Brad’s fingers tight on his wrists and he’s so…he’s absolutely down for this. He walks backward down the hall, dragging Brad to his bedroom and he’s got Brad nearly completely naked by the time he’s pushing him down onto his bed. Ray is sprawled on his back with a Brad kneeling, naked, on the bed between his spread thighs and he groans when Brad’s hand drags over his cock that’s still trapped in his jeans. “ _Please_ ,” Ray says, wiggling on the bed and managing to pull his shirt over his head even as he stays pretty flat on the bed. 

 

“I can’t promise a relationship,” Brad says as he’s undoing Ray’s jeans and he doesn’t really care, at this moment he’s more concerned about getting Brad’s cock in his ass as soon as humanly possible. 

 

“That’s fine, I’m not asking for anything,” Ray says and that’s uh, that’s not really true. He absolutely would like to keep Brad holed away in a room for himself but he remembers that Walt said he was a bit of a slut and he’s not going to judge anyone for that because more power to them but…”I just want your cock in me.”

 

Brad huffs out a laugh as he’s dragging Ray’s jeans down his legs and before he knows it Brad’s got his cock in his mouth as he hears his boxers and jeans hit the carpet somewhere beside the bed. His toes are curling and it’s his turn to pull Brad up by his hair a little, grinning as he pulls the other man into a filthy kiss. “I can do that,” Brad says into the kiss and from then he makes fast work of grabbing the lube and condom from where Ray points beside the bed, in the drawer, and slipping the condom on, slicking his fingers with the lube. 

 

Ray can’t quite believe that they’re doing this ( _again_? Is it _again_ when he can’t remember the first time in anything more than flashes of memory) and so when Brad presses a finger into him he lets out a loud groan, surprising himself with it. After a few more minutes and two more fingers Ray’s legs are spread as wide as he can get them and he’s breathing heavy against Brad’s throat. “Please, Brad, I’m good,” Ray chokes out, his fingers tight on Brad’s shoulders because he’s _so good._

 

_“Fuck,”_ Brad groans and Ray misses his fingers when he pulls them out but his disappointment is quelled as soon as he sees Brad’s got a hand around himself, spreading lube. Ray’s surprised, but not really, when Brad moves him onto his stomach and he pushes onto his knees immediately, his cock aching at being manhandled because it’s so good but he’s also aware that this is probably not going to last very long. 

 

“Oh _God_ ,” Ray groans as Brad pushes into him and he arches his back as he feels one of Brad’s hands tight on his hip and the other dragging up his spine and, _fuck_ , into his hair. He clamps his eyes shut and shoves himself back onto Brad’s cock, the two of them working together to get a pattern going. Brad’s mouth fastens onto the top of his back and Ray’s arms give out, pushing his head into the mattress as he gasps out sounds when Brad’s cock hits his prostate over and _over_ and _Jesus_ Brad is so good. “I’m—I’m gonna—” Ray can barely get it out of his mouth before he’s coming, untouched, onto the bed beneath him and he’s only a little embarrassed that Brad was able to fuck him good enough to come without even touching his cock. 

 

“Did you just…?” Brad asks and Ray keens loudly when Brad’s fingers press against the tip of his cock because it’s too _much_. “ _Goddamnit,_ ” He says and Ray pushes back against Brad, looking back over his shoulder.

 

“Brad, c’mon, fuck me like you _mean_ it,” Ray teases slightly and it works. It makes Brad fuck him with a hint of desperation and he fucking _loves_ it, bracing his hands against his mattress and clenching around Brad purposefully which earns him a sharp smack on his flank and that’s a _thing_. 

 

He can tell when Brad comes because the hand on his hip and the hand in his hair both tighten and his thrusts speed up. “ _Fuck_ ,” Brad says as he plasters himself against Ray’s back and yeah, holy _shit,_ Ray agrees wholeheartedly. 

 

—————————-

 

“So, you two are fucking now but not…exclusively?” Poke asks as he pokes his head into Ray’s room. Ray rolls his eyes and barely looks up from the piece he’s working on, the final draft of Bucky’s tattoo, because the other man is due into the shop in less than four hours now. 

 

“Right,” Ray answers, shading one of the leaves on the piece. That’s what he and Brad agreed to, casual sex that means very little in the grand scheme of life. Well, in _Brad’s_ life. Ray would try to put a ring on it if he thought it would work out. “We’re doing the friends with benefits thing,” he tacks on, finally glancing up to look at Poke. 

 

Poke shakes his head at him as he says, “You’re not the casual type.”

 

“I’m not, but _Brad_ is, and I’d rather have him casually than not at all so, I deal,” Ray says with a grimace because he definitely realizes how stupid that sounds as he says it. 

 

“And how long has it been?” Ray grimaces again at the tone of Poke’s voice.

 

Ray looks back down at the art in front of him. “Nearly a month,” he admits and Poke lets out a whistle which makes him want to scream. Nearly a month of multiple days a week going over to Brad’s place and being fucked so good he wants to write sonnets about it, which would be fine if Brad wasn’t so _serious_ about not getting serious. Which makes very little sense at this point because _Brad’s_ the one that’s been doing the calling, Ray’s just been showing up like a child that comes when called. He finishes the last flower he had to shade before Bucky shows up and doesn’t know what to do now, he glances at his phone and sees that he has a few hours to kill. 

 

In for a penny, in for a pound, right?

 

“I’m gonna disappear until Bucky shows up, if you’re cool with that?” Ray says as he stands up without waiting for an answer, pocketing his phone while he does. 

 

“You do you, man,” Poke says, glancing over at the piece Ray was working on and, “That’s gonna be a sick piece.”

 

“Thank you, Poke,” he grins as he inches past him out of the door of his room and down the hallway. “I’ll be back, Stevey boy,” Ray says as he passes by the front desk, ignoring the look of pity that Steve gives him because he _knows_ that Steve thinks he should just be honest with Brad.

 

Hah, right, like _that’s_ gonna happen. 

 

He does the quick drive to Brad’s apartment in no time and notices there’s a car in the spot he usually parks in. It’s nothing too weird but what _is_ weird is the fact that he’s decided to show up to Brad’s apartment in the middle of the day without warning. Ray just wants to hang out, and maybe suck a little dick, and he’s already thinking about that when he knocks on the familiar door. He’s grinning when the door is pulled open but it quickly disappears when a redheaded woman answers the door in nothing but a badly closed shirt that’s too long for her and _oh_ , _oh shit_. “Can I help you?” she asks, her eyebrow raised. 

 

Ray’s about to reply when he catches sight of a panicked looking Brad over her shoulder. “I—No, sorry, Brad seems to be busy,” he says this more to the other man than the redhead and he backs away until he’s pressed against the waist height wall behind him, “So I’ll go.” 

 

He coughs as he turns away from the door and he’s halfway down the stairs when he hears heavy footsteps behind him. It’s Brad, he knows it’s Brad, but that can’t stop him from blinking back the stupid tears. “Ray, wait,” Brad at least has the decency to sound as panicked as he looked which is nice, the tin man _does_ have a heart. 

 

That doesn’t stop him from laughing as he reaches the bottom of the steps, just in time for Brad to grab his shoulder, turning him around. “What’s up, homes? Don’t you have someone to get back to,” Ray tilts his chin up to look at Brad, who’s standing on the step above him, “I’d hate to interrupt _that,_ cute, big tits.”

 

“ _Ray_ ,” Brad repeats and Ray rolls his eyes.

 

“Dude, I get it, we’ve _discussed_ this, you sleep with other people, it’s fine. Wanted to _suck your dick_ but I see you’ve got that covered for this afternoon so I’ll leave you to it,” Ray is being so cool about this, he’s going to cry in his car on the way back to the shop but _right_ _now_ he’s got this shit. 

 

Cool as a cucumber. 

 

Water off a duck’s back. 

 

If Brad keeps looking at him like that he’s gonna punch him in the fucking _face_. 

 

“I didn’t know you were coming over,” Brad says, a bit dumbly if Ray can have an opinion on that sort of thing. 

 

“I thought I’d surprise you with a little afternoon delight before I start the big piece for that veteran but like I said, seems you’ve got that covered. Weird that she’s opening your door half dressed though, don’t you think?” He’s proud of himself for only sounding a little bitter but he can’t help the pointed look he gives Brad’s state of undress. 

 

“She’s my ex,” Brad says and Ray only feels like a hot poker has been stabbed into his chest, it’s fine, “She came over to pick up some things and it got out of hand and I—”

 

“Dude, it’s fine, like I said, you sleep with other people, I’m aware,” Ray definitely sounds bitter now but he can’t help it. He pushes up on his toes and presses a kiss to Brad’s cheek because he’s done. 

 

This is him bowing out because he can’t do it anymore.

 

“I’ll see you around, man,” Ray says as he shrugs Brad’s hand off of his shoulder and waves a bit awkwardly as he backs away, “Go back and do your thing, have fun.” 

 

He can’t even cry when he gets back to his car because the asshole watches him back out of the spot that he parked in. Ray stops off for a coffee as big as his head on the way back to the shop and as he walks in he’s wiping at his face, sniffling. “Ray you—who do I have to kill?” Steve started out sounding surprised and ends sounding angry, which makes Ray’s eyes tear up because this guy is too much. 

 

“You can’t murder anyone, you’re like a kitten,” Ray says this as he leans against the counter, blinking back the stupid fucking tears. 

 

“What happened?” Steve asks, narrowing his eyes and Ray is so grateful for him. 

 

Ray shakes his head and takes a sip of his coffee. “Brad happened, it’s all my fault, really. I knew we weren’t exclusive but actually seeing it in person was uh, well, I’m done,” he shrugs as he looks at the top of his cup. 

 

“Ohhh, yikes,” Steve says, reaching out and touching Ray’s hand on his cup of coffee, “How bad was it?”

 

“Well, a really hot redhead answered the door in nothing but one of Brad’s button down shirts which was _really_ exciting, even better? Turns out she’s his ex, so that’s the best, day made,” Ray answers and he sees Poke walking down the hall with a customer, her pink hair bright in the light of the shop and he knows that Poke hears him because of the look he gives him as he’s ringing her up. 

 

He’s nice enough, at least, to wait until the customer leaves to say anything. “So, we’re murdering Brad, right? That’s the only thing that’s left for us to do, in this situation,” he sounds so serious that Ray can’t even laugh, just shaking his head in answer.

 

“No, I told you our deal, it’s fine. It’s all good. I just have to find another dick to fall on, it’ll all be good,” Ray says from behind his coffee, rolling his eyes at himself as he adds, “Maybe I can suck Bucky’s dick.”

 

“Oh no you don’t, if _anyone_ is going to suck Bucky’s dick it’s gonna be me,” Steve says, and Ray is surprised at how _angry_ he sounds, he blinks at the other man and watches him cover his mouth with his hand. “Oh God, sorry, that came out so angry,” Steve admits, laughing as he shakes his head and Ray can’t help but laugh as well. 

 

“It’s okay, we all have a dick we’re protective of,” Ray laughs and Poke snorts.

 

“Not me man, unless we’re counting my own,” he says easily and Ray bats his lashes at him.

 

“I can be protective of your dick if you want,” Ray offers and Poke cackles, shaking his head.

 

“I’m sure my wife is probably protective enough for me,” he says, reaching out to shove at Ray’s shoulder a bit and he appreciates the normality of the move. 

 

Ray shakes himself off and straightens up, saluting the two of them with his cup of coffee. “Alright guys, I’m gonna go trace and re-trace this goddamn tattoo for Bucky until I feel like I can do it blindfolded. I’m also gonna be looking at colors so don’t be surprised if I call out for help,” he says this over his shoulder as he heads down the hallway and he hears the two of them whispering but he’s not offended that it’s behind his back because they gossip like hens all the time always. 

 

He gets into the zone of tracing and retracing and picking colors and making lists of colors that he thinks Bucky might like. He’s so in the zone that when there’s a knock on his door he might scream just a little as he jumps, blinking up at the intruder. “Sorry,” Bucky says, grinning at Ray and he looks down at his phone, pressing the home key and holy _shit_ , it is that time, “Steve said I could come back.”

 

“Yo, yeah man, absolutely I was just in the zone,” Ray laughs, pushing away from the table and standing up, gathering Bucky in a brief hug as he says, “I have some colors for you to choose from.This is _definitely_ going to be more than one session because of the scar tissue that I’m working with but I’m positive that I can knock out _at least_ the outline today. I’d still like to hammer out the colors today just to have one less thing to worry about if that’s cool with you though?”

 

Bucky grins as the hug breaks and says, “Yeah man, that sounds great. I’m excited as fuck about this whole thing.”

 

Ray grins at him and nudges him toward his color cabinet, grabbing the paper that he took notes of colors on. “I’m excited too, homes. Okay so, I have a list of colors from pictures that I looked at but honestly, if you want monochrome neon blue everything I’ll do that as well, I don’t give a _fuck_ ,” he’s laughing as Bucky points out a few colors, and they mostly match with the list he made already. 

 

“Speaking of blue, do you maybe have a blue that’s…lighter but brighter than this one?” Bucky is pointing to a cobalt blue ink and Ray doesn’t have a blue that’s both lighter and brighter than that one but…

 

“Poke! You have a blue that’s brighter and lighter than cobalt?” he asks loudly, projecting his voice over the dividers between their rooms. He thinks he hears Poke’s gun running so he’s got to be back there. 

 

“That’s the least and most specific thing I’ve ever been asked,” Poke yells back and his gun stops long enough for a murmur of voices to break the silence before it starts back up. “Come look, dude, s’just Wade in here!”

 

“Wade! My favorite veteran cancer survivor!” Ray crows loudly, nodding to Bucky and leading the way into Poke’s room. “What’cha getting today?” He asks as Poke points toward his ink cabinet, leaning his hip against the counter as Bucky inches past him. “Oh, wait, Bucky this is Wade, Wade this is the one armed love of Steve’s life, Bucky,” He says the last bit loudly, very loudly if the groan he hears from the front desk is anything to go by. 

 

Bucky’s cheeks flush a bright red and Ray coos over it, accepting the smack it earns him. “Nice to meet you, Wade,” Bucky says kindly and Ray leans over Poke, watching the color from the gun bleed into Wade’s skin. 

 

“Likewise,” Wade says, grinning at Bucky and Ray pauses for a moment because hey, that’s a nice smile.

 

“Do you happen to be in the market for someone to care about your dick?” Ray asks Wade seriously, which makes Poke laugh so hard that he has to stop tattooing him. 

 

Wade snorts, “Man, if my boyfriend wasn’t already way out of my league I might take you up on that offer but alas, he’s an eleven and I’m solidly a three on the days I remember to brush my teeth.”

 

Ray sighs as Bucky holds a container of blue ink up to the light. “Sorry, lucky you, I just got dumped without actually being in a fucking relationship because I’m the asshole that got attached so I’m looking for a dick to keep warm,” he says this lightly, shrugging at the look that Wade gives him. 

 

“Men are the worst,” Poke says as he goes back to tattooing Wade.

 

“Amen, brother,” Bucky agrees, holding the ink in his hand out to Ray, “I think this is the shade I want.”

 

“Take it,” Poke says without glancing up, “What’s mine is yours and all that, just don’t spill that shit on the ground or I’ll kill you.”

 

Ray laughs and grabs it, holding it up to the light as he looks and yeah, it is a really pretty color. And definitely not one that he has in his kit. “This is beautiful, homes, when the fuck did you get such pretty colors?” He’s joking as he asks but only just. Poke definitely used to be into more of the dark spectrum of colors last time he poked around in his kit. 

 

“Man, ever since Vanessa got pregnant she’s taken me paint shopping and I apparently didn’t realize how many pretty colors there are out in the world,” Poke laughs, wiping at Wade’s skin with a paper towel as he readjusts his grip on the gun.

 

Bucky aww’s loudly, which makes Ray cackle, “How far along is she?”

 

“Nearly six months,” Poke answers with a grin and now it’s Ray’s turn to aww because he always sounds so happy when he talks about his wife. “Twins,” he offers up, and Ray still can’t get over the fact that Poke is going to have not one but _two_ kids, all at once. 

 

“Which means Vanessa never has to get pregnant again since you’re getting one of each which is like, the best way to do it,” Ray points out and Poke snorts. He turns to Bucky, “A lil boy and a lil girl, I’ve already threatened to tattoo a dick on Poke’s face if I’m not at least one of their Godfather’s so I think I have pretty good chances.”

 

“You’re not even _Catholic_ ,” Poke counter argues, shading in a spot on Wade. 

 

“And when’s the last time _you_ went to church, homes?” Ray laughs and Poke glances up, glaring slightly, “You know I’m right.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, take your customer and get to work, asshole,” Poke says lightly and Ray cheerily flips him off as he leads Bucky back into the hallway and into his room. 

 

He gets to work setting up his station once they get back into his room, cranking the radio on and putting on his pop music playlist. “You cool with pop?” Ray asks Bucky because he’ll change it if the other man absolutely can’t _stand_ pop. 

 

“I’m ice cool,” Bucky says and then he adds, “ _Alright, alright, alright, alright._ ”

 

“Jesus man, that was a pop reference like fifteen years in the making,” Ray laughs, gesturing for Bucky to take his shirt off. “I appreciate the dedication to a joke, but what, mister pop, are your opinions on One Direction, if you have any.”

 

Bucky snorts and doesn’t look like he’s going to answer but the look that Ray levels him as he’s applying the stencil must show how serious he is. “Oh God, okay so I actually _do_ have opinions on One Direction but that’s only because my younger sister was like, obnoxiously obsessed with them and don’t tell her but _every song_ on Take Me Home is absolutely a bop of the highest of levels and Made in the A.M. was absolutely a good try at doing their shit without Zayn but dude, there were so many songs on that album that made me long for his falsetto it’s not even funny,” Bucky is speaking quickly, like he’s embarrassed at having such fully formed opinions on a boy band and Ray laughs because _fuck yeah, homes._

 

“I don’t have a younger sister to blame, I just have Niall Horan’s baby blues to blame,” Ray says easily, which seems to shock Bucky into a laugh. “Check this in the mirror for me,” he says, tapping above the stencil. “Take Me Home is _amazing_ but Midnight Memories is probably my top album by them, hands down. Made in the A.M. was totally missing Zayn and it’s so sad that his solo album was _awful_ ,” he pauses when Bucky cackles as he looks in the mirror, “But Niall is making a grab for the best solo artist to come out of that hell hole of a band so I’m cool with it.”

 

“It looks good,” Bucky says, touching above the stencil gently and Ray grins because he sounds so happy.

 

“Beautiful, let’s get this show on the road,” Ray gestures to the chair and Bucky settles down. Ray waits for him to get comfortable before he pulls his stool and rolly cart with his tattoo supplies up next to him. 

 

“I have to say, before you start marking me up permanently, that Harry’s solo stuff is pretty good, very Fleetwood Mac,” Bucky says and Ray narrows his eyes at the other man.

 

“I’ll give you that, Fleetwood Mac, and I’ll even say that Kiwi is a fun song to dance to, but I can’t accept that he might be the JT of One Direction, I just can’t,” Ray is certain in this thought, “He’s too fuckin awkward string bean-y to be the JT, and Zayn could have had that title but his album bombed so.” He shrugs as he presses his foot to the pedal for his gun, making sure the needle is firmly in place. It wiggles a little bit too much so he tightens the rubber band on his gun before he presses the pedal again and yes, good. “Alright, you ready for this outline, homes? Let me know when or if you need a break,” he looks up at Bucky and watches as the other man closes his eyes, nodding. 

 

“Dude yeah, I’m ready,” Bucky says and Ray grins as he fires up the tattoo gun, pressing needle to flesh and starting the best part of his job.

 

—————

 

Ray’s not sure how long he’s been working on Bucky, just that he’s nearly halfway done with the outline when he hears a knock on the door, cutting into some mindless discussion about ice cream that he and Bucky had been in the middle of. “Uh, Ray? There’s a dude here to see you and he won’t take no for an answer so…I’m going to assume that it’s the dude that fucked you over?” Steve says once Ray pulls the needle away from Bucky’s skin and he’s thankful that Steve remembered that part of his training because he knows if he was still needle to skin he would have fucked up. 

 

“Big dude, looks like he could eat you?” Ray asks, looking at Steve who nods his head. 

 

“Go, man, I was gonna tap out soon for a smoke break anyway,” Bucky says, waving his hand slightly as he opens his eyes. 

 

Ray only hesitates for a moment before he wraps Bucky’s arm loosely in sterile plastic. “Don’t turn smoking into an Olympic sport and be careful when you first stand up, please. Actually,” he pauses, looking back at Steve, “Stay in here until he’s securely on his feet and you can let him go out the back door for his smoke, I’ll take care of Brad.”

 

Steve nods and then he must notice that Bucky’s shirtless because his cheeks flush a deep red as he looks at the other man. _Cute_ , Ray thinks as he inches past Steve and into the hallway, collecting himself quickly and sucking in a deep breath when he sees that it is indeed Brad standing by the counter. He turns around as Ray purposefully makes his footsteps heavier. “Ray, we need to talk,” he says and he looks a mess, his hair is mussed and his shirt is wrinkled and Ray doesn’t think he’s ever heard the other man sound so unsure. 

 

“No we don’t,” Ray says, crossing his arms over his chest, “There’s nothing to talk about. We weren’t exclusive, you were still sleeping with other people. I just didn’t think I’d ever run across it in action so I was a little taken aback by it, I’ll admit.”

 

“You said it again,” Brad says and he sounds frustrated, Ray rolls his eyes and pushes him out of the shop because he doesn’t know if Poke is still working on Wade but he doesn’t want the other man to interrupt whatever the fuck this is. 

 

“Said _what?_ ” He asks as he leans against the front window of the shop, folding his arms again.

 

“That _I_ was sleeping with other people, we were _both_ sleeping with other people,” Brad sounds angry and boy, isn’t this the bee’s knees. 

 

Ray rolls his eyes because _really_? “I _wasn’t_ sleeping with other people,” he says, tilting his head slightly as he looks at Brad, “ _You_ were the one that said you didn’t want to be exclusive, I just agreed to it.” 

 

Brad throws his hands in the air, looking frustrated and if Ray had known he was gonna get excuses _and_ a show he might have stuck around his apartment. “So you mean that _I_ was the asshole that was sleeping with other people while _you_ were sitting around waiting for me to call you?” He asks and Ray wonders if he means to sound as condescending as he does. 

 

“Pretty much,” Ray shrugs, being honest because at this point why shouldn’t he be.

 

“Are you _fucking serious_?” Brad snaps and Ray raises an eyebrow as he continues, “That’s literally the entire point of not being exclusive, we both sleep with other people!”

 

Ray snorts out a laugh. “Well yeah, dude, I know, but I didn’t _want_ to sleep with other people. That’s my point, I didn’t want to and you did, so I agreed to the terms and conditions of not being exclusive because I absolutely wanted to sleep with _you_ ,” he knows he should probably feel more embarrassed about admitting this, should feel angry about the proof being offered of Brad sleeping around, but he just…can’t. At the end of the day this is absolutely what he agreed to, Brad sleeping with other people, so he can’t be angry about it, and he’s _not_. Like he said, he just didn’t think he’d stumble on it in action like that. Or well, _kind of_ in action. 

 

“I feel like an asshole,” Brad snaps and Ray can’t help it, he laughs. 

 

“You’re kind of _being_ an asshole,” he says easily, “You do realize that _you’re_ the one making this a _thing_ , right? I wasn’t all that upset by you having your ex in your apartment, obviously fresh off your dick, because I knew that’s what I _agreed_ to at the end of it all. I mean, not your ex _specifically_ but I definitely agreed to knowing that other people were probably going to be on your dick at some point.”

 

“You were supposed to sleep with other people too!” Brad repeats and Ray shakes his head, covering his face with his hand as he mouths _what the fuck_ against his palm. 

 

“I’ll say it like this I guess: I didn’t want to sleep with other people and I can’t make my dick do what I don’t want to do so,” He shrugs, dropping his hands to his side and looking at Brad, “Why is this bothering you so much?”

 

“Because I didn’t bring up the possibility of _being exclusive_ because I thought that’s not something you wanted! I thought you _liked_ not being exclusive!” Brad sounds particularly shrill as he says this and Ray would laugh if he wasn’t so surprised at the other man’s words. 

 

Ray really doesn’t want to get his hopes up because this dude was literally fucking his ex not even five hours ago and _now_ he wants to have this conversation? Right, sure. “I’m gonna go back in, let you think about that, and I’ll call you when I’m done with this piece to see if you still want to continue this conversation,” he’s careful to keep his tone even because if he isn’t he’s sure he’d sound like he doesn’t believe Brad for a second.

 

Which he _doesn’t_ , but still.

 

He pushes off of the window to make his way back into the shop when Brad grabs his shoulder, pulling him in. Ray tips his head slightly so that Brad’s attempted kiss lands on his jaw instead of his mouth and he shakes his head. “ _No way_ , homes, this isn’t a rom-com moment. I’m not about to fall into your arms because you’ve said that you want to be exclusive when not five hours ago you were balls deep in your ex. _You_ have some thinking to do, and I have a piece to finish up, and at the end of all that we can talk,” now it’s his turn to sound condescending and he doesn’t even feel bad about it as he pulls away from Brad and walks back into the shop, ignoring his sounds of protest. 

 

“You good?” Steve asks as he looks up from what he’s doing on the computer, “Bucky’s back in your room when you’re ready.”

 

“I’m good,” Ray says, nodding his head, “If he doesn’t disappear within the next fifteen minutes maybe light a fire under his ass and let him know that this is a business and he can be ticketed for loitering if he insists on standing outside.” He’s not saying it to be rude per se he’s just…basking in his ability to be a hard ass and if that happens to piss Brad off then good, the asshole deserves it. 

 

Steve snorts out a laugh, “Will do, Sir.”

 

“Ohh kinky,” Ray wiggles his eyebrows as he backs down the hallway, earning a grin and light blush from Steve as he pops back into his room. 

 

“Do I need to murder anyone?” Bucky asks as Ray changes his gloves, pulling on a fresh pair.

 

“Nah man, I’m good,” he answers with a laugh as he settles back onto his stool, pulling the plastic off of Bucky’s arm and checking over some of the lines he’s already finished. “You good for the rest?” Ray asks and Bucky nods quickly, grinning as he closes his eyes and leans back in the chair. 

 

“Hell yeah,” He says and Ray grins as he presses the pedal to start up the gun once more. 

 

—————————

 

Ray absolutely means to call Brad when he gets off work but well, he doesn’t want to. Just like he didn’t want to sleep with other people. Which is how he ends up sucking a dude’s cock in the bar bathroom. 

 

Well, he’s pretty sure those things are tied into it because he likes to think he wouldn’t just…suck a dude’s cock in a bar bathroom however, all current clues are pointing to he absolutely would. 

 

“ _Fuck_ ,” the man has his hands curled loosely in Ray’s hair and it’s not _bad_ , he’s just not _Brad_. And God, isn’t that the fucking kicker. This good looking dude, strong jaw, stronger eyebrows and a good sized cock is all his for the taking and he can’t stop thinking about _that_ asshole. 

 

The taste of latex is strong on his tongue as he sucks harder, pressing his tongue to the slit of the cock in his mouth in an attempt to get this over with faster as he cups one hand around the man’s balls. It works if the tug on his hair is any indication and he feels the man shake under him as he feels the condom fill in his mouth and bleh, that’s the worst part about condoms is that they absolutely feel like you’ve got a water balloon in your mouth when they fill with come. He’s pulled easily into standing and the other man pulls him into a kiss, he accepts it, melting into it slightly as he closes his eyes and feels one of the other man’s hands drop to his waistband and. “Hey, no, I’m good,” Ray says as he breaks the kiss, “I’m good.”

 

“You sure?” the man asks and Ray nods his head, grinning as he watches the other man ease the condom off of himself, tying it off and holding it awkwardly in his hand as he does up his jeans.

 

“Thanks though, for the offer,” Ray says a bit awkwardly and the other man laughs, his head tipping back against the bathroom stall door. 

 

“Thanks for the blowjob,” he returns and Ray wonders, if he wasn’t so fucked up on Brad, if he’d really take this guy home. He looks him over, broad shoulders, good grin, amazing laugh and decides that yeah, he totally would but fucking _Brad_. 

 

“Men _suck_ ,” Ray says seriously, not missing the irony of the statement as he rubs at his mouth slightly.

 

The man against the stall door nods like he understands, and maybe he _does_ , before he unlocks the latch and steps into the bathroom properly. Ray follows him out to the sinks and the other man drops the tied off condom into the trashcan by the door, covering it with a few paper towels, before the two of them wash their hands side by side. “I’m Sam, by the way,” he says as Ray is drying his hands and right, they absolutely didn’t exchange names before _that_ went down. 

 

Well, before _he_ went down. 

 

Heh. 

 

“Ray,” he says in response, grinning, “If I wasn’t fucked up on another dude right now I would absolutely invite you back to my place however, I am and that would make me a shitty person so…”

 

Sam waves him off, “Nah man, I get it. Like you said, men _suck_ , and not nearly in the same way that _you_ just did.”

 

Ray cackles as he throws his paper towels away. “Maybe I’ll see you around?” He asks as he tucks his hand under his shirt, using that to open the door instead of his hand.

 

“Maybe,” Sam says easily and Ray is grinning as he exits the bathroom. 

 

He figures, after sucking a dude’s cock in a public bathroom, that he should probably head home so that’s what he does. Ray hadn’t even had more than two beers in the few hours he’d been in the bar so he has the whole sober drive home to contemplate why the hell he just did what he did. He thinks he’s nearing a reason when he pulls onto his street and spots Brad’s motorcycle sitting in front of his house. 

 

Ray knows he should be annoyed because he _told_ Brad that he’d call him but he just…can’t work up a feeling other than exhaustion when he spots Brad sitting on his stoop. He hits the garage door opener and pulls into his driveway, waiting for the door to open the whole way before he eases into his garage, shutting his car off and sitting for just a moment before he climbs out. “Come through the garage,” he yells toward the open door, slamming his car door shut and shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket as Brad pokes his head around the corner of the garage. 

 

“I just want to talk,” he says quietly and Ray is so beyond over this as he jerks his chin toward the door to the house, letting Brad go in first as he hits the garage door opened on the way into the house, closing it. 

 

Ray kicks his shoes off in the laundry room, the room that the garage door opens into, and watches as Brad does the same. “I just sucked a dude’s cock in a bar bathroom,” he says in greeting, going for shocking and succeeding if the sound that Brad makes is anything to go by. “I did it, and I _liked_ it, but the only thing I could think about the entire time was _you_ ,” he continues as he shoulders past Brad’s frozen frame and into the living room. “Also, I thought I said I’d call you?” Ray asks, but not really, as he drops onto the couch, looking at Brad as he stands in the doorway. 

 

“You did but…you hadn’t called and I wanted to talk to you and—and you sucked a guy’s cock in a bar bathroom?” Brad sounds confused and thrown off, which is good and exactly what Ray was aiming for when he said what he did. 

 

“I did,” Ray says, nodding, “I wanted to see how it felt to be you in this situation.”

 

Brad blinks at him and Ray almost feels bad for telling him when he sees the look that crosses the other man’s face. “You sucked a guy’s cock in a bar bathroom to _see how I felt_? You wanna know how I feel _right now_?” He sounds like he’s choking on the anger and yes, that’s exactly how Ray wanted him to respond because—

 

“Oh, I know _exactly_ how you feel right now, homes. I imagine it’s anger, and shock, and a little bit of _fuck this guy,_ right?” Ray can’t help but feel a bit smug when he sees the look that crosses Brad’s face. 

 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Brad rubs at his face as he says this and Ray can tell that he’s got it. 

 

“Ah, he gets it,” he sounds mocking but he can’t help it because he’s glad that Brad is actually _getting it_ but hates that it took _that_ for him to get it. 

 

“I really was an asshole, wasn’t I?” Brad asks as he drops into the arm chair at the end of the couch.

 

Ray shrugs. “Not as much as I’m being right now,” he admits, “Because we both agreed to not be exclusive but what you’re feeling right now? Is how I felt this afternoon, _all_ afternoon _,_ which is why I went to the bar in the first place.”

 

“Wait, you actually sucked a dude’s cock in a bar bathroom?” Brad asks and oh, _dude_ , he thought he was just saying it to get a reaction.

 

“Yeah,” Ray says slowly, “You didn’t think I said that only to get a reaction, did you? His name was Sam, buff dude with a cute smile and pretty decent cock.” He watches a look cross over Brad’s face and okay yeah, he definitely thought Ray had been kidding. 

 

Brad rubs at his face again and Ray is starting to think that’s his _I’m dealing with emotions_ tell. “I did think you said it just to get a reaction, fuck,” he says, sounding put out.

 

Ray rolls his eyes because of course he did. “What did you want to talk about? I assume you’ve thought about...what we talked about earlier,” he shifts on the couch, pressing his back against the arm of it and facing Brad who looks, well he looks about as much of a mess as he did when he stopped by the shop earlier. 

 

“Well right now I kind of want to punch you but I am also _very_ aware that I deserved that so…” Brad trails off, shrugging and Ray would feel bad for what he admitted but also, he’s _not_ sorry for sucking Sam’s cock so instead he tilts his head slightly to look at the other man, waiting for him to continue. “At first I _did_ want to still sleep with other people because I hadn’t been in any type of exclusive relationship since, well since my ex, and she really fucked me up when she left so it’s just. It’s easier to not be exclusive. Or at least, it _was_ until about a week ago when I thought that maybe you and I could be...a thing, except you had agreed so quickly to not being exclusive that I thought that’s what _you_ wanted and so I didn’t want to push myself on you and end up with you dropping me like a hot potato,” he sounds sheepish as he finishes speaking and Ray tries to think about what happened a week ago that could have changed Brad’s mind and...oh.

 

“Did you uh, did you come to that conclusion when I brought you dinner at the hospital?” Ray asks and Brad nods his head quickly. Ray laughs slightly and wants to die just a little because, “Nate and Walt told me to try and woo you, Nate was the one that came up with the going to the hospital with food idea because he’s seen one too many rom-coms and still believes in true love.”

 

Brad laughs a bit too which is good and Ray feels himself relax just a bit against the arm of the couch. “My uh, _she_ never did that, she was more of the _why does the hospital take you away from me so much_ train of thought so she wouldn’t have ever thought to bring me dinner during a shift. That was a big part of it but it was also...I was missing you in everyone else that I slept with and I hadn’t even slept with anyone else in two weeks before my ex came over and that was less of a well thought out plan and more of a flying by the seat of my pants thing. And then you showed up and I just...I realized that it was a dumb fucking idea to sleep with her because she didn’t really _care_ about me but you do,” Brad says this all pretty quickly, his hands twisting in his lap and Ray isn’t entirely sure that this guy really thought out what he was going to say at all. 

 

“So you uh, you hadn’t actually been sleeping with other people this whole time?” Ray asks because he needs clarification. 

 

“Only the first two-ish weeks but after that it just felt weird to even try so I...didn’t,” Brad says and the kicker is that Ray really believes him.

 

It also makes Ray feel like an _asshole_ because he just sucked a dude’s cock in a bar bathroom for revenge. “I feel a little skeezy now because I definitely sucked Sam’s cock as revenge for you sleeping with other people this whole time and you _weren’t_ doing that so…” he shakes his head, laughing at himself. “I think we’re both very messed up people,” Ray says this quietly and Brad laughs, tipping his head back as he does and yeah, that’s the laugh he was missing. 

 

“Do you want to maybe uh,” Brad pauses, rubbing at the back of his neck, “D’you want to start over? Clean slate, dating, exclusivity, all that jazz?”

 

Ray can’t believe he’s being offered exclusivity, but he also can't believe that Brad just said ‘ _all that jazz_ ’. “You’re a weirdo wrapped in an enigma aren’t you?” He teases, scooting down the couch until he’s leaning forward over the arm that’s closest to the arm chair, reaching out to pat Brad’s knee as he continues, “Sounds good, but we’re not fucking until _at least_ the third date.” 

 

Brad grins at him and says, “You got it, boss.”

 

Ray laughs and he’s pleased when Brad leans forward, pulling him into a kiss that makes his breath catch. 

 

——————

 

They make it to the second date, and even then it’s only a date because they’re _calling_ it a date, it’s really just them at Ray’s house sprawled in the living room watching shitty horror movies. Well, they _were_ watching shitty horror movies but now they’re really more background sound as Ray pins Brad to the carpet and sucks a hickey onto the side of his throat, just below the line where his scrubs cover. “How uh, how did Bucky’s color session go today?” Brad asks as his hands tighten on Ray’s hips and he appreciates it, really, the attempt at pretending like this isn’t happening. 

 

Ray laughs slightly against Brad’s throat and nuzzles under his ear as he says, “Good, a lot of scar tissue to work on so we only managed to get through half of the color but it’s not bad looking. I was surprised when it only took him two weeks to come in for the color, honestly, he must heal super fast or he’s just hype about getting it finished.”

 

Brad hums slightly as Ray shifts his hips, his ass pressing back against Brad’s cock and. “You said the third date,” Brad says and he sounds accusatory which makes Ray laugh as he pushes himself up slightly, still straddling Brad’s hips. 

 

“I know what I said,” Ray says, rolling his hips and watching as Brad’s eyes flutter shut and his cock hardens against his ass, “I’m allowed to change my mind, right?”

 

“But what if _I_ wanted to hold out until the third date, hmm?” Brad asks and that makes Ray pause because oh, did he?

 

“Did you?” Ray asks, shifting and almost getting off of Brad because if he says yes he’s definitely gonna need a few moments to collect himself. 

 

“Hell no,” Brad says, laughing as he switches their position quickly, Ray ending up on his back and laughing as he looks up at Brad. “You sure?” Brad asks as he settles between Ray’s thighs and he looks at him, really _looks_ at him as he reaches up, holding his face between his hands. 

 

“Fuck me like one of your French girls, Jack,” Ray says, grinning, and Brad cackles, tucking his face against his neck as he does. 

 

“That’s not the line, that’s not the line _at all_ ,” he manages to say between laugh, dragging his mouth in a hot line from Ray’s shoulder to just below his ear. 

 

“You’re still gonna do it though,” Ray says, voice catching as Brad’s teeth latch onto his neck gently.

 

“I am,” Brad agrees as he shifts over Ray, pulling his mouth away from him and moving down his body. Ray wants to complain but also, Brad’s mouth is six inches from his cock so he doesn’t really have much _to_ complain about. 


End file.
